Shadow Design Concept

These were previously undated drawings I posted on Instagram in 2020, but this is an exception. I have found when I finished this, so I am archiving it here. This entry features my present thoughts on the drawing, and I will record my thoughts on the others as well.

I'm lying if I said that this is the oldest drawing of Shadow I own. I'm telling the truth when I say this is the oldest drawing I have of Shadow in her current outfit.

This is the concept for her modern outfit. I hated her old outfit, which had her signature bangs but it had tears and patches that were massive eye sores. At the start of 2020, I was determined to redesign her, and that's what I did. At the beginning of February, this was what I came up with.

I had no idea how to draw sleeves or folds in clothing, and I didn't know how to color her. I designed three variations of her outfit and asked others what they liked. Most people liked the black outfit for her, but I grew to like the middle version after a while. It's the version I chose, and the outfit I've drawn her in ever since.

I have another "lost treasure" about Shadow, but I'll describe the main changes in her outfit here. She has defined sleeves, curlier hair, and better proportions in the present but less tears in her clothes.

All of these changes were gradual; the more I drew her, the more I experimented. I found ways of drawing her that I liked and stuck with, and others that I removed or reworked. Among them are the tears in the center of her chest. I removed them because it didn't make sense for a warrior like her to reject a chestplate. That, and I felt like it the tears were in an inappropriate place. I kept the tears for three months before removing them, refining the ones on her shoulders and simplifying her jeans while lowering her neck line. Interestingly, her boots have stayed the same.

I could show the drawings of the characters I had from my Inkscape phase, but I cringe whenever I go back to them. I guess that's a sign of how much I've improved. At least, I hope so.

February 3rd, 2020